My Heart's A Drummer
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and forty-three: Rachel can't help thinking about her and Finn as they sing "Don't Stop Believing."


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cycle. Now here's cycle 7!_

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**"My heart's a drummer"  
Finn/Rachel**

She hadn't been completely unaware of his existence, but they had never spoken, really spoken, before he joined Glee Club. What would have been the point; he probably wouldn't have acknowledged her, would he? She wasn't someone people noticed, not for the right reasons.

She would have called it a joke, punishment by Mr. Schuester for something Finn might have done. She kept to that belief… and then he sang, and she swore she saw stars… gold stars… They could be something with him there. More than that, the more she got to know of him in the next few days… she felt like they could be something, him and her.

She was seeing him for who he was now. He had talent, untapped… He was letting it go to waste, that wasn't right. The idea that she could show him the way, let him see where he really belonged… and with who.

When Mr. Schuester announced he was leaving and Finn started missing practices, she felt she might lose him. Everything had fallen apart in the club without him and Schue… they had finally been getting somewhere, and then without him… she couldn't get anywhere with the others.

But he came back. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but then the more he talked… he wasn't going to leave them now, she could feel it. And to seal the deal… they would put together something, the six of them.

She knew, standing on that stage, with him by her side… her heart was racing, and the energy was like nothing she'd felt before. He was talented, there was no questioning that. And sure, that was no small thing to her… she swore there was a choir of angels, lights from the heavens down on to him…

But there was more to it. She felt something whenever he was there now, it was… drum beats in her chest. And when there was music, oh… that beat had rhythm.

The jazz band, there by Artie's handy work, started playing, and she felt that rhythm as Finn stepped and started to sing. The way he went about, looking at her… She could swear she knew… he felt it too, what she felt. She'd been doing this long enough t tell the difference between theatrics and genuine affection…

This did not feel fake. She stretched out her arm, all the way to her fingers, trying to reach him straight across the stage, and he was reaching to her. He had to see how much they shared, the things… he'd denied in himself for who knew how long… it had not come out of nowhere.

It had lasted so long, reaching; they caught up to one another, hooked at the hip, spinning… she would have worried that she might get dizzy and lose her balance, but there was no chance of that, not with Finn holding on to her.

With Mercedes, Tina and Kurt around them, and Artie nearby, it wasn't just about the two of them. It was the true beginning of who they were, New Directions… even without Mr. Schuester. Finally, they were all right where they were supposed to be, with the people they were supposed to be with. It didn't matter what happened next, and who came along… It had started right then and there, the six of them.

Maybe this would be where it started for them, too. The way he stood behind her, so tall, so strong… It was like every little silly romantic dream she'd had, alone as she was, had finally come to pass.

When Finn moved to the drums, she was drawn to stand at his side. He played the beat to her heart right there, it just… gave her wings… no better way to explain it. Still they reached for one another… the moment could last a lifetime and it would have been too short…

But then all moments, like songs, had an inevitable end. They came to a stop and their heads dropped. She hardly had time to catch her breath that she saw they had an audience after all.

Mr. Schuester had returned to them, just like Finn had… yes, they were all back… now they could only get better, all of them together… Mr. Schuester, Tina, Artie, Mercedes, Kurt… and Finn. Her heart would keep its drum beat so long as he was with her.

THE END


End file.
